From Stray To Loved
by CerberusKin
Summary: Sephiroth is used to finding stray animals and finding homes for them. What happens when he finds one particular beaten stray kitten after finding an abandoned puppy... SephxKittenCloud, AngealxPuppyZack, RufusxCatReno, CidxCatVincent


Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 or any of its characters. They belong to Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura.

Author's Note: Since I have done something like this for Naruto I decided to do it from FF7. But my Naurto story is a little more different than this but it does involve human animals so I decided to do the same for my favorite FF7 characters and seeing as some of my friends and readers for my FF7 fan fics wanted something like this so here it is. I may revise this chapter I don't know. I wanna see how the second chapter turns out. As for Mating and all my other stories I have been having writer's block for them but their chapter's are half done so when I think of something for them they will be posted. So read, enjoy and Review ^.^

_Chapter I Found_

Cloud could not have been any colder or wetter at that moment. He had been wondering the streets of Midgar for days without any food or shelter. He had ran away from his abusive owner that rarely fed him and would constantly beat him. Cloud just could not take it anymore and ran away, taking off the identification collar as he left. Now he was walking around a very well kept part of Midgar. He was on the main street of some very nice looking apartments that stood in uniform fashion along the street. Each one painted stock white with dark blue almost black trimming. What little greenery that was there was well kept and the more Cloud wondered the street the more he realized that there was not one stray cat or dog where he was. He continued to walk down the street as the rain continued to pour. It was getting harder and lightening was becoming more and more frequent. Cloud was getting more and more tired the more he walked. He could not keep on going without something to eat or at least somewhere safe to sleep. Sleep sounded good. Real good. Cloud tripped over his feet and fell to the ground. He picked himself back up and continued going. He kept looking at the apartments around him and he began to notice that they had no awning or anything that he could take cover under at least till morning. He kept walking, feeling his legs beginning to give way from exhaustion. He had made it to a very much nicer part of the apartment neighborhood. The rain had fallen so hard now that it looked like snow falling. It blurred his vision as Cloud crawled around on the street. He felt the rain stop but he heard it still pouring against the pavement behind him. He looked up and found that he was in a large hall that lead out the other way and had two elevators, one on each side of the hall. Cloud crawled a little more into the hall before finally collapsing. He felt his body begin to shut down and shivers racked his body but it all did not matter. Cloud's eyes began to droop before sleep finally took him. He just hoped that he would be able to wake up again.

Sephiroth was tired. He had returned from a mission in Gongaga and had brought back an abandoned puppy. The poor thing was neat death when he found him tethered to a tear in the back yard of a beaten up old house. When Sephiroth took the dog in and fed it, he was surprised it made a good recovery from being so close to death. He had made the decision to bring the puppy back when it would not stop following him but when Sephiroth tried to pet it or hand it food it shied away into a corner or underneath something and growl lightly. Sephiroth had only been out there for three days before making the decision to bring the animal with him. The puppy still would not make any sort of noise but to growl lightly but Sephiroth figured it was because he was not used to human contact. In fact, Sephiroth was making his way home from his friend Angeal who he had given the puppy to. The man had been so lonely since his boyfriend, and Sephiroth's best friend, Genesis died on a mission a few months back. Sephiroth thought it would be nice for Angeal to have something that would cheer him up and help him move on. When Sephiroth showed up with the dog in his arms Angeal took to him immediately and the puppy didn't even growl at the man when he took him from the safety of the General's arms. For the first time since he met the puppy he had begun to wag his tail a little as Angeal bathed it and help it eat. When the dog had been cleaned Sephiroth saw a pair of raven black furred ears amongst a messy mass of raven colored hair. The puppy's eyes were blue and its skin tanned and smooth. It's tail, which was the same color as its ears with the exception of its tip which had a little white on it, wagged on happily as Angeal ran his hands through its hair. After feeding the dog and giving it water Angeal had asked it its name seeing as he was found with no identification collar and hoping it would know its own name. The puppy had responded, with a raspy worn out voice, that his name was Zack. That was when Sephiroth took his leave. He wanted Angeal to have sometime alone with the dog to get to know him a little better. Sephiroth would find out the history of the puppy when he returned to work in a few days.

Sephiroth gripped the umbrella he was holding a little harder as the rain and wind became a little more than unbearable. He was almost home and he could not wait to make a cup of tea and sit down and read a good book. He had four days off following his mission so he took the chance to relax as much as possible. He saw his apartment building come up and turned to go into the hall that led to the courtyard. When the general entered he almost did not notice the figure lying on the floor a few feet from the entrance of the hall. He caught it at the corner of his eye and when he looked down whatever he was holding in his hands, including the umbrella clamored to the floor. Lying on the floor slightly stretched out on its side was a cat. Its pale skin was littered with bruises as if someone had been using the creature as a punching bag. Its blonde hair caked with mud and Sephiroth hoped that dried blood was not mingled in with the mud. He supposed the cat had Sunkist blonde furred ears and tail but could not tell through all the dirt. The creature wore dirty torn up old clothes and its feet were cut up and bloody, probably from running away from whoever had beaten it. It was barely breathing and when Sephiroth bent over to touch it, the cats skin was cold to the touch. Sephiroth looked the cat over again and noticed two more things. A bruise around the cats neck from where it had its collar and the cat was more of a kitten than an actual cat. Sephiroth looked to the files that he had dropped. They were wet and more than likely unreadable but for some reason he did not care. He looked to the kitten again and proceeded to pick it up gently. The poor creature gave out a weak yowl of pain before slipping back into unconsciousness. Sephiroth sighed as he felt his heart break a little. He hated it when people treated such beautiful creatures so cruelly. He was about to make his way to the elevator when he heard someone shout his name. Sephiroth turned and saw Angeal enter the hall with Zack close behind. The puppy was in full tail wag mode and smiled warmly up at Sephiroth but the smile faltered when he saw the beaten up kitten in his arms. Angeal did not miss it either as he bent down to pick up the fallen files as Zack sniffed the kitten cautiously.

"I came here cause you left your phone at my place but I guess I should be glad I came. Give me your apartment key and you just worry about carrying him." Sephiroth nodded and indicated to where his apartment key card was. When Angeal retrieved it they made their way to the elevator. Zack freaked out a bit but was calmed by Angeal as he clung to the man for dear life. Zack leaned over and sniffed the kitten again nudging its arm gently with his nose. The only response he got was a pain whimper and Zack immediately recoiled back, whispering an apology. When they reached Sephiroth's floor, they made their way to his door and went in side quickly. Angeal placed the document files on the foyer table before heading to the bathroom just down the hall from Sephiroth's bedroom. Sephiroth followed him, still holding the fading kitten to his chest. Zack stayed in the foyer not knowing what to do with himself, so he sat down and waited for Angeal to return.

"Sephiroth is he still breathing?"

"Yes. Barely, but yes. I would not be surprised if he doesn't last the night. He's covered in bruises and who knows what internal injuries he has. He's cold to the touch and skinny as hell to make it worse. Angeal, I think he has a broken rib cause I can't see one of them." Angeal turned around from closing the drain in the tub and running warm water. He looked at the kittens chest and saw every rib in his body but noticed that the third one from the top left was missing.

"You're probably right. Here, put him in the tub and I'll wash him. You call Rufus and have him come over. Oh, and get Zack in here so he can help. Thank Shiva Rufus lives in the same building." Sephiroth nodded and placed the kitten gently into the tub. He got up and left calling Zack in the process. The puppy timidly went to the bathroom but did not enter. "Zack don't worry. I need you to help wash the kitten while Sephiroth calls Rufus."

"Will…this Ru…fus help?" Angeal smiled gently at the puppy. He was still a little shy and nervous but at least he was talking a little more.

"Yes. Rufus is a vet he should be here soon. Now come and help clean the kitten up." Zack had his tail tucked between his legs as he knelt down and helped his new master. Sephiroth left the room and went to the house phone in his bedroom and began to dial Rufus' number. The phone rang three or four times before a familiar voice answered sounding tired.

"Hello?" Sephiroth glanced at the clock on the small table next tot his bed and noticed that it was nearing the end of eleven and getting close to midnight.

"Rufus I'm sorry for bothering you so late but I have a bit of an emergency."

"What is it?" Sephiroth picked up the concern and worry in the other mans voice.

"I have found a stray passed out in the entrance hall to our apartment building. I brought him to my place and Angeal is washing him up now in some warm water. He's barely breathing and seems to have been used as someone's personal punching bag." The line was silent for a bit before Rufus gave his answer.

"I'll be right there in a few minutes. What animal is the stray and does it have a collar?"

"It's a kitten and no it has no collar. It has a bruise around its neck from where it used to be." Sephiroth heard a curious meow in the background. Reno. "Bring Reno if you want."

"Ok. Be right there." The line went dead. As soon as Sephiroth had put the phone back Angeal entered the room with a slightly more steadily breathing kitten. He was half conscious but his eyes were open. Sephiroth had to keep himself from gasping when he saw that they were a beautiful crystal blue color. Angeal set the kitten down on Sephiroth's bed and wrapped him in a thick comforter. Zack hopped onto the bed, his tail back to wagging happily from side to side. The kitten watched the puppy's tail with half lidded eyes before swatting gently at it. Angeal and Sephiroth watch in amusement as the kitten began to have a little more life to it as Zack kept moving his tail the more the kitten swatted playfully at it. Their fun moved from swatting Zack's tail to wrestling which both men noticed Zack was being a little more gentle than a puppy should be. The wrestling match continued until the kitten yowled in pain causing Zack to back away quickly, ears down and tail not moving and whimpering softly. The kitten was curled up in pain holding its chest where Sephiroth and Angeal suspected he had a broken rib. Once his shaking had stopped the kitten slowly moved over to Zack and gave him a soft lick on the cheek before curling up on the bed next to him. Zack yawned, stretched, and curled up gently against the kitten and falling asleep. Angeal and Sephiroth left the room smiling at the scene of the kitten and puppy sleeping. Angeal made his way to the kitchen and began to prepare some tea for Sephiroth and coffee for himself as they wait for Rufus to show up.


End file.
